WWYDW – Which Playoff Team Will You Be Following?

The Stanley Cup Playoffs kick off tonight and I don’t think I’ve ever seen a bracket more engaging or unpredictable. The first round matchups couldn’t have turned out any better, providing us with enough narratives to give a mittenstringer a seizure.

The Senators versus the Canadiens? Ottawa’s run to the postseason was crazy.

John Tavares versus Alexander Ovechkin? Insane.

The Steve Yzerman Classic, otherwise known as Detroit vs. Tampa Bay.

‘Nucks and Flames. A good ol’ Western Canada matchup.

AND THE JETS IN THE PLAYOFFS AGAIN?

Seriously, this first round is going to be incredible and I want to watch every single minute of it… Even if Toronto has nothing to do with it.

The Situation

That’s right – the Leafs didn’t make the playoffs. You probably knew this already but, just in case you’ve very recently woken up from a coma or maybe returned from a super cool trip into outer space, I thought you should know.

Anyways, because you can’t cheer for your favourite team, you’re going to have to cheer for somebody else. So who’s that going to be? I’m a big cheat so I’m going to wait until the Finals and say “yeah, called it, whatever“, but you guys should totally tell me who your adopted playoff team is in the comments below.

I’m following Winnipeg in the West and the Islanders in the East. The Jets mostly because of the city they play in and the Isles because of Grabbo and Kulie. I am, although I despise the Flames, also following Johnny Hockey because Johnny Hockey.

My rule of thumb if the Leafs aren’t in contention is to cheer for any team that has never won the Cup before, so I like the Wild, Blues, Preds, Jets, Canucks, Caps, and Sens, but especially the Sens and Blues – gotta cheer for Hammond and my hometown boy Brian Elliott!!

I’m expecting a STL vs NYR final but I’ll also be following the Jets and Sens. I’d like to see the Jets go a couple rounds and I’m interested to see how the Sens handle the post season with all their rookies.

Is it OK to support two Canadian teams, one in each conference? Call me crazy, but I support Senators in the East and the Jets in the West.
The Jets look to be a great defensive team if they can just keep some of the goals out of their own net. The Senators are so much fun to watch and I must admit have a couple of players in Stone and Karlsson whom I admire.